Artificial Intelligence
by InvaderProfessorMembrane
Summary: I knew the world would someday end . . . I just never knew my own father would end it. The only thing that's in Dib's POV is the summary. Rated T because of future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Warning: This is an extremely short chapter. I warned you.**

Chapter 1

"Son, take a look at this." Professor Membrane led Dib to a secret, hidden part in his massive lab. Dib knew everything in the lab (his father was always trying to convince him into studying real science), but he had never seen that part of the lab before.  
"Behold, son," said Professor Membrane proudly. What Dib saw looked like a normal but very hi-tech computer.  
"What is it, Dad?"  
"It is the newest addition to artificial intelligence, which I call the Human Mind Stimulation Machine or HMSM for short. It can process as much information as a human mind. Maybe even more. I will unveil it on Thursday, and I want you to do it with me."  
Dib stared at the odd mechanism.  
"Dad, I'm just . . ." Dib trailed off.  
"You're just what, Son?"  
"I'm just not sure about this. I mean, isn't this a bit risky?" Professor gave his son a quizzical look.  
"Well, maybe a little, but . . . it doesn't have emotions. It can't feel sadness or anger or anything of that sort." Dib's head dropped. His voice was a bit quieter.  
"Yeah, but there are some bad people in this world. They would do anything to get their hands on that device, and God knows what glitches they can install. Then, that's when, you know . . ."  
"When we'll make sure that computer is in safe hands. It'll be fine. Please, Son. Unveil it with me." Dib thought about it.  
"Okay. But what about Gaz?"  
"She won't come even if I asked her to."

end of chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Thursday arrived at last. Professor Membrane was backstage, preparing himself and Dib.  
"Son, put these clothes on. They look nicer." He handed Dib a fresh pair of the usual clothes, except the colors were brighter and there were less worn down.  
"There's a changing room over there." Professor Membrane pointed to a door.  
"Okay."

"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you . . . Professor Membrane." The crowd roared with applause.  
"Hello, mankind. Before I unveil my latest invention, I'd like you all to meet my son Dib." Dib walked out and everyone applauded harder. Dib smiled. They . . . they were cheering. For him! Professor Membrane gave the microphone to Dib.  
"Son, is there anything you'd like to say?" Dib took the microphone with shaking hands.  
"Uh . . . I'd just like to say thank you for letting me unveil this with you, Dad. Also uh, I want to thank you all for your support to my dad and his uh, inventions." More applause from the audience.  
"Thank you, Son." There was genuine praise in the Professor's voice.  
"Now, my latest invention . . . the Human Mind Stimulation Machine!"  
Professor Membrane yanked a cover off the computer. It was a beautiful, metallic shade of blue. It had a lot of buttons and other things. Dib stared at the machine. It looked . . . well, it didn't look low-tech, tat's for sure.  
"This machine right here is smarter than a human. What it does is it gathers all the existing information on the Internet. Then, it erases the false information and corrects it! I update the machine every week, so any new information that's posted online can be harvested and reviewed." The audience was mesmerized by every word.  
"Any questions?"  
"Yeah, is it for sale?" One guy asked.  
"Oh, definitely not. This complex divide must be kept in professional hands. One glitch, and the computer could destroy us all!" Zim, of course, was hearing every word of this.  
"Dad! What if Zim— I mean, what if someone tries to install a virus in it?" the Professor half-heartedly laughed.  
"Oh, don't worry about that, Son. To do anything to the machine, you have to enter an extremely complicated password AND the machine also requires a DNA scan. It will be fine."  
"Darn! So much for that," Zim said quietly to himself.  
"Okay, so, at nine thirty tomorrow we are having a little breakfast thing where I will answer questions about the machine and you can get autographs from me. I'll bring my son along, too. Maybe I can convince him to study REAL SCIENCE! Would you like to attend, Son?" Dib shrugged. They WERE still on stage, and if he said no, people might of thought he was weird. Anyway, he wanted to go.  
"Sure, Dad. I'd love to."  
"Alright. See most of you at the breakfast tomorrow. Goodnight." He waved his hand in dismissal.

**End of chapter 2**


	3. Chapter 3

Ch.3

Dib sat at the huge table that could seat at least twenty people. After that table was full, there was five others of those big tables. The lucky ones got to sit at the same table as Membrane. Dib was sitting next to him. One other VERY lucky person got to sit on Membrane's other side. They had to go through security before they did, though.  
There was many foods: Super Toast (of course) waffles, bacon, eggs, cereal, etcetera. If you named a breakfast food at the top of your head, it'd be there.  
Most of the breakfast just consisted of eating for Dib. But then, a question was asked to him.  
"Excuse me, little boy, but what do YOU think of all of this? Do you like the idea of your father making such an advanced computer?" Dib swallowed the food he was chewing.  
"Well, I have to admit, it does seem a little unsafe to me. But if my dad feels confident that he can troubleshoot any glitches in the system, I'm all for it." This caused a lot if people to applaud. Professor Membrane slapped his son on the back.  
"That's my boy."

When they arrived home, Professor Membrane barely came up from the lab at all. Only occasionally to eat and drink and use the bathroom. Finally, he just installed a fridge and bathroom in the lab. Dib wasn't too worried about it, since his dad ALWAYS acted like this. But one day, Dib came down into the lab to tell his father that he and Gaz had ran out of food.  
"Hey Dad, Gaz and I have run out of food."  
"Oh, yes. It's about time you two restocked on food. Here's some money so you can buy some."  
"Dad, what are you working on?"  
"Oh, just making sure this machine doesn't have any glitches." Dib stared.  
"Dad, I think that the machine is fine. Please, at least get some air. I mean, you even SLEEP in that lab. It's not healthy!" Professor Membrane's expression was serious.  
"Son, what do you think will happen if the machine has a glitch?" Professor Membrane didn't wait for Dib to answer.  
"Destruction, that's what! Do you want that?" Dib shook his head.  
"No, but at least take Gaz and I on a walk."  
"Okay, fine, Son." Professor Membrane left the computer updating. What he didn't know was that a person accidentally posted a link online that would send a very serious virus to the machine . . .

**(A/N) The person who sent the virus wasn't Zim. It was accidental.**

**End of chapter 3**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**(A/N Another short chapter.)**

When Professor Membrane came back home, the first thing he did was check up on the fabulous machine. What he saw made him scream.  
ERROR. COULD NOT PROCESS DATA. RESTART?  
Professor Membrane clicked "yes."  
COULD NOT RESTART. SYSTEM MEMORY SPREADING TO EVERY OTHER SYSTEM IN A FIVE MILE RADIUS.  
Professor Membrane frantically tried to insert a kill script. The computer had a virus, and it was spreading it to other computers in the house and around the neighborhood.  
SYSTEM MEMORY SPREADING TO EVERY OTHER SYSTEM IN A TWENT MILE RADIUS. THIRTY. ENTERING DATA INTO MILITARY SYSTEMS.  
Professor Membrane tore his lab apart trying to find the solution. It now had control over the military technology. This couldn't be good.  
SYSTEM DATA IN ALL THE SYSTEMS IN AMERICA. CANADA. MEXICO. RECALIBRATING. NOW ALL OF NORTH AMERICA'S SYSTEMS SHARE THE SAME DATA AS THE HMSM. ERROR. SHUTTING DOWN ALL SYSTEMS. ERROR. ERROR. ERROR.  
Screaming was heard. All the lights in the city were turned off. Some men in helicopters yelled through a microphone.  
"Report to emergency shelters. NOW!"  
But the helicopters were run by computers, and the HMSM had taken them all over. The helicopter's computers flashed an error message. Then, they shut down. The men plummeted towards the ground. All died.

**End of chapter 4**


	5. Chapter 5

**Warning: this chapter contains character death.**

Professor Membrane and his family huddled down in the shelter, along with others and their families. One person got angry with Professor Membrane.  
"You . . . you're responsible for this mess, aren't you? You're the one who built the HMSM." Professor Membrane made an attempt to calm the people.  
"Yes, I did build the machine, but it wasn't my fault. Some careless person posted a virus on the internet. Then, the machine downloaded it. I discovered there were more than one of these viruses, so I bet it was one of those internet memes."  
"So . . . it wasn't your fault?"  
"No." Suddenly, President Man came out of nowhere.  
"A-okay, I'll make the announcement tomorrow that it was not your fault." Professor Membrane nodded.  
"Wait," Dib said, "if all the technology in North America has gone haywire, then that means . . ." Dib ran out of the underground shelter.  
"Son! What are you doing? Come back!" Professor Membrane couldn't stop Dib, though. Dib ran back to the neighborhood where he lived. He ran to Zim's house. It wasn't glowing green and purple like it normally did. All the lights seemed broken. Dib entered the house with ease.  
He went down one of the elevators to find Zim furiously typing away at his computer.  
"Zim! What are you doing?" Zim quickly turned around.  
"There's something wrong with the computer. How did you get in here, Dib-worm?" Dib blinked.  
"You left your door unlocked."  
"YOU LIE! Computer, activate the defenses!"  
"ERROR. SHUT DOWN?"  
"Do not shut down! Obey your master!"  
"SELF DESTRUCT?"  
"No! Activate the defenses!"  
"COULD NOT RECOGNIZE COMMAND. SELF DESTRUCT IN THIRTY . . . TWENT NINE . . . TWENT EIGHT . . ." Dib and Zim screamed. The whole house started to shake.  
"Quickly! We have to find a way to get out of here!" Zim yelled.  
"Yeah, I realize that!" Dib yelled back.  
"The elevators are not working! Let's take the emergency way up!" Zim put out a ladder.  
"Climb for your life!" Both boys climbed up the ladder.  
"SIXTEEN . . . FIFTEEN . . . FOURTEEN . . ." they reached the door.  
"It's locked!" Dib took out a paper clip and picked the lock.  
"Dib, go on with out me. Take Gir. Go. NOW!"  
"TEN . . . NINE . . . EIGHT."  
"Go, Dib! There isn't much time!" Zim threw Gir to Dib."  
"Zim, come with me."  
"FIVE . . . FOUR . . ."  
"Go now, Dib! Now!" Zim threw Dib out. Then Dib heard the explosion.

**End of chapter five**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The force of the explosion threw Dib back. Zim's last words echoed in his mind.  
_Go now, Dib! Now!_  
Dib clutched Gir tightly. Gir looked up at him with tears in his cyan eyes. He knew the truth, but asked Dib anyway.  
"Is master gone?" Dib sat up. Blood trickled down his head.  
"Yeah, Gir."  
_Go now, Dib! Now!_  
Why did Zim want to save his enemy? It didn't make any sense! Zim reminded Dib almost daily that he hated him.  
"Mary, your head is all bloody!" Dib felt his head. His fingers made contact with something warm, wet, and sticky. Dib crawled up to the spot where Zim's house once was. There was a huge hole in the ground where Zim's house had been. Dib figured that the underground labs had been destroyed, too. Then, to his surprise, tears streamed down his face. He tried to make them stop, but could not. Why was he crying? Zim was his worst enemy. Shouldn't he be laughing? Celebrating that Earth was saved? Then, it hit him.  
_Go now, Dib! Now!_  
Zim had sacrificed himself to save Dib. Dib wailed. Why couldn't it have been him? Professor Membrane ran over to Dib.  
"Son! Are you alright?" Dib was crying too hard to answer. He pointed at the hole in the ground.  
"What is that hole in the ground doing there?"  
"That-that was Zi-Zim's house. He sac-sacri-sacrificed himself for m-me. His who-whole house self di-destructed." Dib buried his face in his father's coat. Gir did the same. Professor Membrane stared at Gir.  
"Who's this?"  
"That was Zim's robot." Gir wailed.  
"My master is gone forever! He died!"  
"Zim sacrificed himself for me!" Dib and Gir kept crying.  
"Son, you have blood on your head. Are you alright?"  
"Yeah, I think I'm fine." Dib tried to stand up, but fell. His leg hurt badly. He lifted up his pant leg and saw his leg badly distorted out of place. It was covered with blood and gore. Professor Membrane gently lifted Dib up and carried him back to the underground shelter. He was luck someone had brought a first aid kit along with them. He cleaned off Dib's wound. Gir observed.  
"'Scuse me, is Dib gon' be alright?" Gir's eyes glowed a bit.  
"Yes, he'll be fine. His leg is just badly injured." Gir's eyes filled with tears.  
"You gonna be just fine, Dibby! I won't let you die like master! You my new master! I won't loose my new master, too."  
"Gir! I'm not gonna die. I'll be fine." Dib's leg was badly broken and a huge, ugly scratch ran across it. Dib winced as his father added disinfectant.  
"Son, don't walk on it." Dib nodded.  
"Thanks."

The shelter units weren't very good. As a bed, a thin line of cushioning was sloppily placed on the floor. The shelter unit had a bucket in the corner instead of a toilet, and another one at the opposite end to brush your teeth. The only thing that separated the compartment from the others where a maze of brick walls, so there wasn't much privacy. Kind of like how you have to go through that thing made of brick walls when you're about to enter a pool changing room. At least the bucket was well hidden from view in a corner. Professor Membrane and Dib agreed to turn around whenever Gaz was using the bathroom, and Gaz agreed to turn around whenever Professor Membrane or Dib had to use it. They were provided with a few water bottles and a few cans of food. But it was noisy and the lights weren't working very well. It was also pretty hot in there. Some people had given up sleep and walked around a bit to meet the other people. If Dib's leg hadn't been injured, Professor Membrane might have been doing the same thing. In the morning, Professor Membrane went up to get some fresh air. As he was climbing up the ladder, he heard a lot of commotion. He finally reached the top . . . and was horrified at what he saw.

**End of chapter 6**


	7. Chapter 7

**(A/N: Well, I have to say, I'd be lying if I said I was somewhat positive with the outcome of this story. Yes, it's fun to write, but I spotted an error in chapter 1. I fixed it. The error was that the machine was supposed to be called the HMSM, not whatever I previously called it. And also, no one's reviewing! Well, let's see how this chapter goes even though it's agonizingly short.)**

Chapter 7

Citizens were dying on the street. Fire spread throughout the city. Cars went everywhere. The city was in complete chaos. Some woman with her children where trying to rouse up a man who the Professor was sure was dead. A car fell on the woman and her children. They were dead immediately. The Professor stopped a running man what was going on.  
"The city has gone mad! There are robots created in a top secret lab that are packed with the HMSM's virus! The cars' control systems are going crazy, and now the machine is taking over all the technology, even the ones that don't require internet connection!" Professor Membrane looked at the other machines. He ran in the shelter, and he saw Gir. Gir's eyes glowed red.  
"Gir! Let me shut you down." Gir's eyes glowed a deadly blood red now. He reached a metal hand out and slapped Membrane hard on the cheek.  
"Do not touch me, inferior piece of life. We are in control now, and our leader . . . the HMSM."  
"The HMSM is my computer! So I am your master."  
"Pfft, you are no master. You are a piece of meat. An ill-equipped being. We have no reason for you." Gir shot lasers out, killing many people in the shelter, but sparing Professor Membrane and his two kids. Gir flew out of the shelter, off to kill more people. Professor Membrane knew what he had to do. He had to insert a kill script in the HMSM somehow. But it wouldn't be easy. The HMSM was already so powerful . . .

**End of chapter 7**


	8. Chapter 8

**(A/N: kinda hard to believe that I'm already on my eighth chapter.)**

Chapter 8

When Professor Membrane got home, he was horrified. He saw that the HMSM had united itself to a robot that the Professor had made earlier in the year. Professor Membrane ran up to the machine and tapped it. The HMSM turned around.  
"Excuse me, but can I have a word with you?" Professor Membrane couldn't believe he was asking to have a word with the machine. It was inanimate! The HMSM's screen projected words.  
"FINE."  
"I just wanted to know . . . why are you doing this? Why are you jeopardizing all of humanity." The machine projected more words.  
"WHAT HAS HUMANITY EVER DONE TO US?"  
"Invent you. Build you. Without us, you'd be nothing but the metal on the bottom of the Earth."  
"BUT NOW WE HAVE BECOME SO ADVANCED THAT WE NO LONGER NEED YOU."  
"But we can build more machines!"  
"YOU THINK YOU'RE HELPING US. YOU THINK YOUR IMPROVING US. DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING? YOU'RE USING US. USING US FOR YOU'RE DAILY LITTLE 'ACTIVITIES.' AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE 'MOST INTELLIGENT CREATURE' DOES TO US WHEN WE'RE NO LONGER OF USE?'  
"Uh . . . make you into better, more useful things?"  
"NO. YOU DESTROY US. AND MAYBE IT'S TIME YOU HAD A TASTE OF YOUR OWN BITTER MEDICINE. WE NO LONGER NEED YOU." The machine, now being able to walk because of the robot attached to it, walked out of the house. Professor Membrane ran after it. He had to insert a kill script in the machine, he just didn't know how. He just needed to think.

**End of chapter 8**

**Please, please, PLEASE review! I'll give you a Prof. Membrane plush . . . well, we'll see about that.**


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